


leo loves you

by feroxi (11dishwashers)



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Dates, Fluff, M/M, leo seems like hed know how to flirt but takumis acc better than him, takumi loves art more than he loves life tbh, wheres xander
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-17 12:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8144411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/11dishwashers/pseuds/feroxi
Summary: one snowy day, takumi asks leo to sleep over.inwhich leo and takumi's siblings are wayyyy too involved in their love life.





	1. alarming

 

Takumi shows up wearing skinny jeans, which surprises Elise. She never thought that he was the type.

“Leo! Your boyfriends here!” she shouts up the stairs.

“Not my boyfriend!” Leo shouts back.

Elise turns to Takumi.  
“Come in,” she says. Takumi nods and follows her into the small house.

“He does like you, you know.”

“Um, I don't think so,” Takumi replies.

“Why else would he talk about you so much though?” Elise giggles knowingly.

Takumi doesn't respondand takes out his phone, doing literally nothing on it. Leo walks down the stairs, Takumi turns his head and meets his eyes.

God, Leo was good looking.

“Hey,” Takumi mumbles.

“Hey.”  
This was awkward??

The two may have been friends now but it didn't stop the tension from leaving.

“Shall we get going?” Leo asks.

“Uh, yeah,” Takumi replies and they set off down Leo’s road.

 

 

It's freezing outside and the sky is overcast, so Leo wears a huge coat and Takumi shivers.

“How are you?” Takumi asks.

“I'm okay. My dad visited yesterday though,” Leo replies.

“Shit, are you okay?”   
“Yeah…I doubt i'll see him for a while at least,” Leo laughs dryly.

Takumi looks at Leo's hands for a minute before thinking ‘why the fuck not?’ and taking one in his own. He gives it a squeeze.

“I'm always here for you, you know?”

Leo looks a bit taken aback but he quickly regains his composure.

He squeezes Takumi's hand back and leans against him slightly.

“Unfortunately,” Leo says, smirking.

“Look I know you can't go two minutes without being a dick but I'm trying here,” Takumi laughs.

It starts to snow a bit.  
“You love it though.”

Well, he's not wrong, Takumi thinks.

The pair cross the road and walk through the small rusted gates leading to the park.

The trees are huge and their branches spread so far that barely any snow gets through them.

A river runs next to the footpath, and it's lined with a few benches.

The two come here regularly, because both their families have a tendency of embarrassing them in front of their friends.

“Well, how are you?”

“Im… tired,” Takumi responds. They're still holding hands, he realises, and suddenly jolts up. Leo gives him a weird look.

“You're always tired.”  
Takumi yawns loudly   
“I know.”

Leo laughs and Takumi stares, because leo looks so cute when he laughs, with his eyes all scrunched up and a huge smile on his face and oh my god

“Do you want to stay over maybe?” Takumi asks without thinking. Shit shit shit, wasn’t that kind of a weird thing to ask your barely-friend out of the blue?  
“Well- I mean… I just thought you might not want to go back to your house what with your dad visiting yesterday and-”

Leo pokes him on the cheek.

“No, i want to,” he says. Takumi blushes and he's not sure why. He opens his mouth, closes it and opens it again before finally saying something.  
“Thats cool.”

Leo laughs at him again.  
“How profound!”

Takumi laughs too because he's the most awkward person alive sometimes.

“Leave me alone!” he protests.

The conversation goes easy after that, the awkwardness disappearing into the air.

 

 

The two run to the bus stop with their jackets draped over their heads as the snow quite suddenly becomes heavy downpour.

The sky’s grey now. They wait at the bus stop, both looking as gloomy as ever.

Takumi rests his head on Leo's shoulder in an out of character burst of confidence.

Leo’s breathing goes shaky and the heat rises up his face.

“I wish I had a scarf,” he mumbles.

“Me too.”

The bus shows up and the two stay downstairs.

Takumi looks out the window at the dreary landscape and eavesdrops as Leo calls home.

“Hello, Elise? Can you put Camilla on the phone?

Hi Camilla-

Yes I'm ok-

No, I'm fine-

LISTEN FOR A SECOND!

I'm with Takumi.

Do you ever drop that?

Okay well I just called to say that I'm staying at his house tonight.

Yes, he's allowed-

Okay fine, I'll text you if I need to.

Bye Camilla,” Leo hangs up the phone and lets out a shaky sigh.

“Shes so overprotective,” he groans.

“I think it's nice. No one in my family really cares that much,” Takumi says.

“Sakura cares,” Leo protests.

“Sakura cares about everyone so she doesnt count,” Takumi replies.

“I don't care about everyone,” Leo says. Takumi doesn't process it for a second.

He blushes.

“Thanks, Leo,” he says.

“What? I didn't say anything,” Leo jokes.

The two sit in silence for a minute before Takumi rather suddenly slams his hand onto the stop button exclaiming “Cmon! We’ll miss our stop!”

 

 

They run to Takumi's house through the slightly worn down estates. The place seems deserted since you’d be insane to go out in this awful weather.

The lights are on in Takumi's sitting room and he sees Ryouma watching tv as they approach. He smiles a bit, it's nice to see Ryouma not working for once.

“I’m home!” Takumi exclaims as he walks in the door, Leo following cautiously behind.  
“Welcome back, b-big brother,” Sakura stutters from the kitchen. Takumi can barely hear her.

“Also, Le o’s staying over,” he says. He hears a small high pitched ‘eep!’ through the kitchen door.

“Is he allowed!?” Ryouma shouts from the sitting room.  
“Yes!” Takumi shouts back.   
He turns to Leo who looks slightly nervous. Not that Takumi can blame him, Leo’s never stayed over before. Or been to his house, even.

“My room?” Takumi offers. Leo can only nod as Takumi’s already leading him there.

Takumi leads him into a room with cream walls covered in photos and weird postcards, and what looked to be some of Takumi's artwork. Leo knew Takumi was talented, but damn.

The postcards, on closer inspection, are of different paintings, and some are of Hoshido, Takumi's hometown in Japan.

Leo smiles as he sees a photo of Takumi and Sakura from years ago.

“Oh yeah, that's when Ryouma brought us fishing,” Takumi laughs.  
“We didn't catch a thing all day. Except, Hinoka managed to catch one with her hands. It was so weird, Ryouma nagged her about salmonella for ages after.”

Leo chuckles, looking at more photos and hoping he's not being intrusive. He spots something familiar under a stack of papers on Takumi's desk.

“Do you play chess?” Leo asks, his eyes lighting up. That’s right, Leo was a huge chess nerd, wasn’t he?

“Nah, it’s a shogi board. They're kind of similar though,” Takumi replies.

“I could teach you though?”

And that's how Takumi and Leo ended up playing shogi until midnight.

 

  
“I'm kind of hungry,” Leo states. Takumi nods.   
“Lets go downstairs and see whats there.”

The two try to be as quiet as possible as they sneak downstairs. Sakura’s asleep in her room and Ryouma's probably working as usual.

They finally reach the bottom step of the stairs and giggle a bit, feeling like little kids as they tiptoe into the kitchen.

Takumi switches on the light. Leo looks around and is not at all surprised to see a small kitchen with green counters and  shelves and a whole shelf of recipe books.

“Do you like ice cream?” Takumi seriously asks, holding a ben and jerries tub in his hands.

“Of course,” Leo responds, eyes sparkling.

One of the joys of the world, how could someone not like it?

“Okay good.”  
Takumi gets two tablespoons then gestures to Leo to lead the way back upstairs.

The two manage to be quiet until-

Leo puts one foot on the first step and an extremely loud alarm goes off, pounding throughout the whole house. Takumi yelps and drops the ice cream, Leo looks like he might sink through the floorboards and Ryouma stands at the top of the stairs with a baseball bat.  
“WHO'S THERE?!” he bellows.

“Uh, it's just us!” Takumi shouts, trying to disable the alarm.

“R-ryouma, whats going on?” Leo hears Sakura ask softly.

“Sakura, quick, go call the police, then wake up your brother and Leo!” Ryouma orders. Sakura nods, flustered, and scurries back to her room.

“I'm coming down now!!” Ryouma warns, walking slowly down the stairs, gripping the baseball so hard his knuckles turn white.

“Ryouma! It’s me!” Takumi exclaims in desperation. Leo stands there shivering.

Takumi finally manages to switch off the alarm.

He switches on the lights.

The three go silent.

“O-okay, please come as quickly as possible,” a quiet voice says from upstairs, followed by the sounds of muffled loudspeaker.

“Oh god,” Takumi groans.  
“What are you two doing?” Ryouma asks, more surprised than angry.

“We just went downstairs to get some food!” Takumi explains.  
“We're really sorry!” Leo mumbles, feeling like he’s about to cry.

“...Go back to bed. Well talk about this tomorrow,” Ryouma says out of pity.

Leo and Takumi nod furiously before retreating to Takumi's room as fast as possible.

 

 

“Jesus christ,” is the first thing to be said, by Takumi.  
“What the fuck,” Leo agrees. Takumi hands him a spoon. Leo gives him a weird look before Takumi hands him the tub of ice cream.

Leo grins, then laughs, then cackles, Takumi joining in- the two roll around on the floor howling with laughter, tears in their eyes trying desperately to calm down.

They eventually do.

“Do you want clothes?”Takumi asks.

“Well if they're yours, i'm not so sure,” Leo replies, only half joking.

He ends up with pokemon pyjamas. Leo giggles when he sees them.  
“I can't believe you own those!”

But the tables are flipped when he actually changes into them in the corner and takumi can not stop laughing. Leo is only mildly embarrassed until Takumi takes a picture for his snapchat story.  
“Don’t post that!” Leo lunges for the phone.   
“Okay, okay, I won't!” Takumi exclaims after Leo continues to wrestle him for the phone. Leo smirks as he watches Takumi press the delete button.

Takumi grins. Little did Leo know, he saved it on his phone.

They talk for a while about random shit, bitching about people in school and debating until they hear sirens outside the  house.

Takumi groans, Leo sighs. Why oh why did Sakura have to call the police?

Takumi stands up from where he was lying on the floor and switches off the light, opening the curtains so at least the moon will light up the place.

“Best to pretend we're asleep,” he explains.

Takumi somehow manages to find a sleeping bag in his very full, very messy and pitch black closet. He sets it out on the floor next to his bed.  
“You can have the bed,” he offers.

Leo shakes his head, then says

“I do not want to be pitied.”  
“I insist,” Takumi replies.

And when Takumi insists, there's not much you can do but go along with whatever he wants.

“I'm not tired,” Leo says, sitting up in Takumi's bed(which smells of the grey haired boy).

“Me neither.”

Leo hauls himself up and sits on the floor, leaning against the bed frame, long legs pulled up to his chest.

Takumi rolls out of his sleeping bag and sits next to him.

“Its freezing,” Takumi groans, and leo pulls the quilt off the bed, putting it over the two of them.

There's a silence as Takumi gradually leans further and further onto Leo, ending with his head pressed up against Leo's cold neck.  
“Let's have a dmc,” he suggests.

“A dmc?”

“A deep meaningful conversation,” Takumi explains.  
“Oh, I see. Well, i don't really know what to talk about then,” Leo says.

Takumi knows very well what Leo could talk about(his father) but does not force it.

“Well, do you have any problems?” Takumi asks. Leo sighs.

“Of course I do.”  
“Like what?”

There's a pause before Leo speaks.  
“Takumi, have you ever had a crush?”

Takumi's slightly taken aback but he thinks of his crush on Hinata in the 6th grade.

“Yeah,” Takumi replies.  
“Why do you ask?”   
“...because I think I have one,” leo says.

“Oh,” Takumi breathes. He's not sure how he feels about Leo liking someone that's not him. Then he's very sure. He feels upset.

“I just don't know what to do,” Leo mumbles..  
“Niles is no help when it comes to romance and Owain only gives the cheesiest advice.”

“Well, I don't know what to say to you as i've never gone out with anyone,” Takumi laughs dryly.

“Neither have I. My dad would be so angry,” Leo replies. Fear runs up Takumi's spine on mention of Leo's father.

“Why would he be angry?” Takumi asks but there's no response.

“Leo? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Leo replies, though he seems so far away.

Takumi decides to keep talking, maybe Leo just doesn't want to talk?  
“Yeah, i've never had a boyfriend before but I've always wanted one. Once Oboro asked me out, but that's really all that's happened,” Takumi rambles, not sure what he's saying.

“She and Kaden are dating now so it all worked out but i really didn't know how to turn her down at the time. Hinata had a crush on her too, so that was hard to deal with but it's all behind us now. And proms coming up isn’t it? I have no idea what to do-”  
“What did you just say?” Leo interrupts takumi's rambling.

“Oboro asked me out-”

“No, not that. Something about a boyfriend?” Leo asks. Takumi cringes when he realises he just accidentally outed himself.

“Yeah,I did say that,” is all takumi can think to say.  
“Are you gay?”

“...yes,” Takumi replies.

“Um, that's good,” Leo mumbles.  
“What do you mean?” Takumi asks.   
“Its nice that I have a friend I can relate with like this,” leo says.

“So you're gay too?”

Leo nods. Takumi feels a new hope inside of him. Maybe he has a chance?

But wait, Leo likes someone.

“Who do you like anyway?” Takumi asks.

“Whydyou want to know?” Leo retorts with a lopsided grin. Takumi scowls.  
“You’re so arrogant.”

“Its charming, don’t you think?”

  
Takumi elbows him in the ribs.


	2. the cold shoulder

  
  
  


That week in school is weird in the way that Leo and Takumi somehow manage to miss each other at each turn, and when asked about it, they both think the other is avoiding them but both say that they don't care anyway.

Takumi slams his locker shot and slinks away, hoping his friends won't find him. he walks out the school back door, where he's met with a cloud of smoke.

A boy a year younger than him glares at him as he takes a drag of his cigarette. Takumi ignores him and walks down the side of the school.

He doesn't know why he's trying not to talk to his friends. He doesn't know why Leo’s avoiding him, either. All he knows is that it really hurts.

He walks home, even though it takes ages and the music on his phone is already overplayed.

 

Leo doesn't really know why Takumi's avoiding him, he just hopes it'll be over soon.

He walks with Niles and Owain through the front of the school and thanks the gods that it's friday, not bothering to listen to Niles’ and Owain’s persistent chattering.

He waves goodbye to them as they part ways at the school gate and puts his earphones in, beginning the long walk home.

Why hasn’t Takumi talked to him ever since the sleepover last weekend?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ik this is a short chapter(like,, very short) but thats bc im doing a double update so there'll be a new chapter uploaded right after this one!!  
> tldr; leo and takumi are angry at eachother for no reason


	3. meddling siblings pt. 1

  
  


“It's been a while,” Takumi spits, arms crossed.

“Mind explaining why you've been avoiding me?”

“What? I haven't been avoiding you!” Leo protests, gritting his teeth.   
“You’ve been avoiding me!”   
They stand in silence for what seems like ages before Takumi speaks.

“I think I know what happened.”   
Leo nods, because he gets it. They both thought the other was avoiding them, thus avoiding them, thus making the other even more upset. Really, they just had the worst luck and the biggest case of shyness on earth. 

They pretend it didn't happen.

  
  


Takumi gets home and crashes onto his bed, letting out a heavy sigh as he pulls his earphones out of his phone and plays his music out loud at last. Having a crush on Leo was so tiring. They both had double music together earlier and Takumi could barely tear his eyes away from the blonde. If only Leo didn't have a crush already.

Sakura knocks, and Takumi knows it's her because Ryouma just barges straight in.

“Come in,” he says, still lying face down on his messy bed. Sure enough, Sakura stands at the door.

“Are you okay?” she asks. Takumi looks up at her and gives her a concerned look.

“Im fine...why do you ask?”

“Youve been w-withdrawn lately,” Sakura replies, taking a seat next to Takumi on the bed. 

“I'm fine, just a lots happening right now,” he mutters.

Actually, not a lot has happened but takumi's never had a crush this big before, and on Leo of all people? So life was confusing and upsetting, especially since Leo had a gay crush on someone that Takumi was 99.9999% sure wasn't him. He sighs.

“Like what?” Sakura asks. Takumi thinks for a second.   
“I like Leo, I think.”

Sakura gives him a knowing look.

“That happened ages ago,” she states.

“How would you know?” Takumi groans.   
“Am I that obvious?”

Sakura smirks, which is a weird thing to witness.

“Yes, you are… and it's okay-”   
“In what world is that okay?! Now Leo will think i'm a huge weirdo and I'll have Hinata and Oboro as my only friends!!” Takumi practically yells.

“Please...calm down…” Sakura stutters and Takumi suddenly grows very quiet.

“I'm sorry Sakura, I'm just so confused.”   
She nods in understanding.   
“It's okay to be confused, and, like i was saying, it's okay to be obvious because Leo obviously l-likes you too!”

Takumi smiles, touched by his sister’s words, then frowns as he processes it all.   
“He doesn't like me like that.”

Sakura purses her lips.   
“We’ll see.”

  
  
  
  


**_sakurac:_ ** _ just logged on. _

**_ELISE:3-_ ** _ sakuraaaaaa!!! _

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -Hi Elise! How are you? _ _   
_ **_ELISE:3_ ** _ -im good!! but we gotta talk asap omg _

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -Oh, What’s going on? _

**_ELISE:3_ ** _ -leo ttly just told me he likes takumi!!! omfG _

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -That’s so weird… Takumi told me he likes Leo today too. _

**_ELISE:3_ ** _ -u kno what that means???? _

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -What?  _

**_ELISE:3_ ** _ -we’re now obligated to set them up _

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -Are you sure? How are we meant to do that? _

**_ELISE:3_ ** _ -lets meet up and tlak about it then can explain the plan cx _

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -Yeah, sounds good!  _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another short chapter but the next one will be p eventful i promise!!  
> also tysm all of you for reading im gonna try and update p often as i write 1k words a day anyway so ill try and focus em on this fic


	4. meddling sisters pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> elise and sakura put the plan into action

“Sakura!” Elise squeals as she pulls the pink haired girl into a tight hug.   
“E-Elise!” Sakura gasps, unsure of what to do with herself. She doesn't have to think about it for too long as Elise says   
“Let's go eat!” 

And leads her through the mall to their favourite diner.

The inside is very american and retro. The two take a seat in a plush, red coloured booth.

“What are you going to get?” Elise asks as she scans the menu.

“Um, I think I'll get the tender basket,” Sakura replies and Elise nods, putting the menu back down.   
“I'll get that too then!”

They order their food(Elise ordering for Sakura) and get their drinks before they get down to business.

“So, Takumi likes Leo?” Elise wiggles her eyebrows.

“Uh, y-yeah, that's what he told me anyway,” Sakura replies.

“And now it's our duty to set them up!” Elise grins almost cruelly.

“How would we?”   
“Well,” Elise thinks for a minute.   
“Lets just set them up on a date and see where it goes.”

Sakura nods.   
“That could be good but, how could we do that?”

Elise looks into the distance, so concentrated, deeply thinking before she clicks her fingers and exclaims   
“I got it!”

“W-what?”

“Lets convince them to take us to see that new horror movie and cancel at the last minute!”

  
  
  


Elise sits at the window seat, holding Sakura’s phone(which she borrowed) up to her right ear. Next to her, Sakura giggles uncontrollably.   
“Hey, Leo? Listen! Me and Sakura have a really good idea. No , I swear, it'll be good! No… it’s nothing to do with that. Alright listen now! So me and Sakura want to go see that new horror movie and we were wondering if you and Takumi would bring us tonight? ...yes, I do realise we were already at the mall. Takumi will love it i swear! Ok, meetya  at Sakura’s at 6? Okay seeya!”

Elise hangs up and cackles, causing some to turn their heads and look at her.

She hands the phone back to Sakura, who's grinning like the cheshire cat.

“He said yes!”

“And so did Takumi,” Sakura shows elise her texts with her brother.

 

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -Will you and Leo bring Elise and I to the cinema later? _ _   
_ **_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -can i say no? _

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -No. _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -what time? _

**_sakurac:_ ** _ -Leo’s coming over at 6. _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -its 5:30 now _

_ sakurac:-I know _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -fine w/e ill take u but u owe me bigtime _

 

Takumi tried his hardest to look like he wasn’t trying tonight. He put on his skinny jeans that were unintentionally slightly ripped at the knees, but he didn't really care. He also threw on an oversized sweater because it was freezing outside, what with the recent snow last weekend.

When the bell rings, he quickly finishes up his french plait(Takumi loves to style his hair like this because he can leave it in for days and not bother with his hair) and rushes downstairs.

He opens the door to find Elise shining as brightly as ever, Sakura giving Takumi a weird sort of smile and Leo looking like he was going to run away at any moment.   
“Hi takumi!” Elise sings as she walks straight past him.

“Hello Elise,” he says for lack of something better.

Leo smiles at him, which is rare. Takumi gulps and holds the door open for them.

“Are you all ready for the movie?” he asks.

Elise and sakura exchange a look ™  which makes Takumi very,  _ very _ concerned about his wellbeing for the night. He looks at Leo, who's just as worried as him. He’s worn a large greenish brown jacket, a band t shirt(but Takumi doesn't know what band it is) and jeans. He looks up again after checking Leo out, and makes eye contact with the blonde. Takumi turns his head and blushes. Leo smirks.

“Yeah, about that….” Elise trails off. Leo groans, already predicting tonight's events.

“What is it?”

Elise grins widely.   
“Me and sakura can't go to the movie anymore, but we got you two tickets~” sure enough, she pulls two movie tickets out of her coat pocket, forcing them into Takumi’s hand with as bright a face as ever.

“Why aren't you coming?” he asks, half thankful and half shitting it.

“Because we have to study together!” Elise explains.

Takumi turns to Sakura.

“Yes, its t-true,” Sakura says sheepishly. Elise grabs her hand and yells out a quick “okayhaveagoodtimebutnottoomuchofagoodtime;)okaybye” and dragging Sakura upstairs to her room, giggling louder than most people can scream.

Leo and Takumi take a moment to just look each other in the eye, frowning deeply.

“What just...what just happened?” Leo asks eventually.

“Come on, let's just go,” Takumi mutters, thinking back the last time they hung out.

_ ‘I wish I had a scarf’  _ isn't that what Leo said? Takumi grabs a specially fluffy one off the rack and puts it on.

“You look like a baby bird,” Leo laughs.

“Hey!” Takumi growls in faux anger. Leo smiles and stares.   
“W-what?? What is it?” Takumi asks as Leo continues to stare at him.   
“Nothing, you’re just really cute,” Leo grins.

Takumi's mouth hangs open for a full minute, unable to string together a simple sentence.

This was going to be a long night.

 

Takumi begrudgingly closes the window at their seats and tries to connect to the bus wifi which doesn’t  load basic sites. He finally connects and recieves some snaps from hinoka which he quickly opens. The first snap was a selfie with Setsuna and Azama at what looked like a club, the next was just a black background saying ‘coming home tomorrow’.

“Who's got you so happy?” Leo asks. Takumi realises he's been grinning ever since he got the snap.

“Oh, it's nothing,” Takumi replies, because he picks up on the jealousy in Leo’s voice and he's going to play it smooth. Leo gives him a Look, which goes ignored.

 

“I just got a text from Elise,” Leo sighs, holding his phone up to Takumi’s face. There's a selfie of Elise and Sakura with the caption ‘have fun on ur date’. 

“Does she think that we’re dating?” Takumi asks, only slightly embarrassed, which is weird.

“I’d say she’s trying to set us up,” leo mumbles and looks out the window. The skies gotten dark now, as it does with midwinter.

“...Really?” Takumi replies. That's not something Sakura would do.

“What do you think they'll do next?” Takumi adds, because he's scared to think about it.

“Who even knows?”

  
  


“Did you seriously just eat half the popcorn?” Leo asks, exasperated. Takumi stops in the middle of putting more popcorn in his mouth, a guilty expression on his face. Gosh, he's too cute for Leo to handle.

“There's still loads left,” Takumi replies. Leo sighs and pays for more popcorn.   
“What's your favourite drink?” he asks Takumi.

“I love slushies!! Especially blue raspberry,” Takumi says.

“And a blue slushie please,” Leo says to the cashier at the cinema shop.

“Let me pay for it,” Takumi says, fishing out his wallet. Leo looks down at it for a second.   
“The total is $6.50,” the cashier says with a smile. Leo hands her a fiver and some coins, ignoring Takumi’s whining.

“It's on me,” Leo says as the two walk away from the shop.

“But I could've paid!”

“I know.”

“God Leo, you really know how to treat a girl,” Takumi teases. Leo blushes, causing Takumi to laugh more.

“Don't be like elise too,” Leo mumbles.    
“Why not?”

“...Shut up, the movie’s about to start.”

 

The movie is even more terrifying than it looked in the trailer. Surprisingly, it was Leo who clung to Takumi for most of it, who was more than happy with the situation. It really did seem like a date, though Takumi would never go along with his sister’s plan.

 

Leo, from his seat, was also very happy. He wasn't actually scared of the movie, he just loved cuddling with Takumi, and his act worked.

  
  


“I wonder how their d-date’s going?” Sakura says as she lies on the floor next to Elise(who was playing some of her weird french music), looking at the ceiling.   
“Hmmm.. me too…”

Suddenly Elise gets a notification. She boredly checks it and leaps up when she sees who its from.

 

**_princeLeo logged on_ **

**_princeLeo_ ** _ -Elise, I just want you to know that I hate you _

**_ELISE:3_ ** _ -hehe, youre just saying that!!i bet it went great~ _

**_princeLeo-_ ** _...Why would you say that? _

**_ELISE:3_ ** _ -cmon its so obvious the boy has a crush on  you _

**_princeLeo_ ** _ -stop it _

**_ELISE:3_ ** _ -stop what? _

_ princeLeo-Trying to set us up _

**_ELISE:3_ ** _ -i have no idea what ur talking abt _

 

“Looks like it went well,” Sakura says, holding out her phone to show Elise.

 

**takumeme >:( logged on**

**takumeme >:(** -thanks for tonight sakura omg

**Sakurac:** -Tell me all about it later!

 

Elise squeals in delight.   
“They're soooo cute together!”

  
  


Takumi and Leo get the bus back to Takumi’s house.

“Elise? Where are you?” Leo calls. Elise runs down the stairs.

“You're back!” she smiles.

“Yes, I am. But we have to get home.”

Elise scoffs.   
“Don't worry about that, i sorted it with Camilla. We’re all staying here!”

Sakura stands shyly behind her.   
“Y-you’re always welcome…” she blushes for no apparent reason.

Takumi watches the conversation in silence.   
“No Elise, let's not disturb ryouma,” Leo replies. 

“Its r-really fine, Leo,” Sakura mumbles.   
“Yeah! Just stay!” Elise whines.

“I refuse to impose on Ryouma like this,” Leo says sternly.

  
  


“Did you really have to put on Glee?” Leo groans from his spot on what Elise referred to as the ‘loooove couch, if you know what i mean ;)’ where he sits uncomfortably close to Takumi, who sits very stiffly the whole time.

“Sakura likes it,” Elise explains.

Leo sighs, he doubts she's telling the truth, but Leo can't exactly say that. Two hours of Glee and finally the girls decide to go to bed.

“Are you tired?” Takumi asks Leo, now that they’re on their own.

“Not particularly,” Leo replies.

“Good, I want to show you something.”

 

Leo soon finds out that Takumi did not mean that in a sexual way as he watches Takumi climb out of his window and onto the fire escape.

“Follow me,” he says. Leo manages to, surprisingly, even though he’s very frail and weak, honestly.

Takumi leads him up the fire escape which leads to a worn black door at the top of the building. There's a wooden crate in front of it, which Takumi uses as a step as he hauls himself up onto the roof. Leo’s amazed. He  loves   likes this boy. The sky's so dark now that it's almost like they're in a stargazing spot. Takumi holds out his hand which Leo takes. Its warm. Takumi pulls him up onto the roof, which is one of those industrial flat cement roofs that apartment buildings have with black painted railings around it(though they're so short they mean almost nothing).

There's some pipes and other random shit strewn across it, along with a lone, worn chair which intrigues Leo.

Takumi lies down near the middle of the roof and Leo lies next to him, gasping at what he sees.

“The stars…”

“I know, I love them,” Takumi says dreamily.

There's a long silence.   
“Thank you for bringing me here, Takumi,” Leo whispers.   
“It really is beautiful,” he adds. He closes his eyes and listens to the cars and the lights and the city and Takumi breathing. Life is good.

 

“Are you cold?” Takumi asks Leo after a bit.

“Yeah, kind of,” Leo replies. They go back inside, into Takumi's room. Takumi gets out his sleeping bag, which he insists on taking again, despite Leo's protests. They talk and talk and talk until Takumi falls asleep, and Leo falls soon after.

 

That night, he dreams of long grey hair and tan hands and hazel eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy so i finally updated!! nice  
> anyway this fic will probably have 6 chapters and im not making any promises but shits gonna get dramatic rly soon  
> anyway i hope u like this update omg


	5. breaking point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a good few things are at breaking point

Hinoka bursts through the front door with her usual unstable confidence ™ and yells

“I’m homeeee!”

Sakura leaps into her arms immediately, giggling joyously, Takumi joins in with a grin, and Ryouma reluctantly stands there until Hinoka pulls him into the hug too.   
“And who do we have here?” she asks as they breakaway, looking at Leo and Elise.

Leo looks like he was just dragged through a bush backwards, his hair sticking out in all directions and wearing Takumi’s slightly-too-big clothes that drape off his delicate figure. Elise looks much more sure of herself. Her hair’s already done up in her usual pigtails and she's already dressed up in a black skirt and a cat sweater.

“T-this is my new best friend Elise!” Sakura replies. Elise beams.

“And this is my brother Leo, who’s  _ very  _ close with Takumi,” Elise says sweetly. Leo shoots her a glare that goes ignored.

“They stayed over for the night,” Takumi explains.   
“Oh, I see,” Hinoka says, silently  wondering what Elise was suggesting was going on between Takumi and this Leo boy. 

“Who's hungry?” ryouma asks, and everyone puts their hands up. 

“Let's get some breakfast then!”

  
  


And that's how Elise and Leo get pulled along on a family outing for breakfast at Apache Pizza(their favourite pizza place). It may be awkward, but Leo’s never seen Takumi happier than he is now, as he talks to his older sister.

“So how's college?” Takumi asks, taking another slice of hawaiian pizza.

“Oh, it's good! I mean pretty fucking stressful, but good. I'm always tired but i go out every fuckinh night anyway,” Hinoka replies.

“Language,” Ryouma says sternly.

“Well Sakura’s lived with me, she's heard it all before,” Hinoka protests. Ryouma gestures to Elise and Leo.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, they've probably heard it before too,” she argues. Elise nods enthusiastically. Ryouma sighs.

“Been seeing anyone?” Takumi asks Hinoka teasingly. Hinoka goes quiet for a minute and flushes crimson, making the answer obvious, though she mumbles a “n-no…” anyway.

“Cmon Hinoka, you're awful at lying,” Takumi laughs.

“Fine. there's this g-girl i've gone on a few dates with,” she stutters. Leo thinks the parallels between his and Takumi’s family are really weird at this point. Camilla likes girls too, and has gone on a few dates with one herself recently.

“Whats her name?” Sakura asks excitedly.

“Camilla…” Hinoka replies wistfully. It clicks for Leo, though he doesn't say anything. 

“Thats weird, my sisters called Camilla too!” Elise says happily, obviously she hasn't figured it out yet.

“I have a picture of her,” Hinoka mumbles as she pulls out her phone

There on the screen is a picture of a beautiful woman with long purple hair and caring eyes.

“That's her! My sister!” Elise exclaims.

“Really?” Hinoka asks. Elise and Leo nod.

“What a coincidence!” Ryouma laughs.

  
  


Afterwards, the family ( and Leo and Elise) go back to their house. Hinoka and Sakura go upstairs to fix up Hinoka’s futon and Elise tags along.

“Hinoka? Guess what?” Elise says, bouncing up and down on the bed.   
“What?”

“T-Takumi has a crush!” Sakura answers for Elise.

“On my brother!” Elise adds.

“Oh really?” Hinoka smirks, because she figured it out ages ago. It's the way he looks at the blonde.

“Help us set them up!” Sakura pleads.   
“But of course!” and that's how Hinoka joins the Meddling Sisters Club.

  
  


Leo calls Camilla to come pick him and Elise up, but does not tell anyone, or mention Hinoka. He just thinks it'll be funny.

He didn't bring anything to the sleepover so he carries Elise’s impossibly heavy bag.

Camilla pulls up in her black mercedes and walks into the house oozing confidence after Ryouma answers the door.

“Elise, Leo! Yours sisters here to pick you up!” Ryouma calls. Elise, Leo, Sakura, Hinoka and Takumi come downstairs. Hinoka goes red, and Leo smirks, watching the events unfold. Once something( or someone) catches Camilla’s eye, there’s no stopping her.

“Oh, Hinoka darling, I wasn’t expecting you here,” she purrs.

“Uh, well, here I am!” Hinoka replies a little too eagerly, and Takumi snickers slightly at his sister’s awkwardness.

“I didn't know you were related to  _ the _ Sakura and Takumi?” Camilla says. Leo blushes though Elise seems unaffected. Takumi feels a burst of happiness.

“Uh, I’m their older sister,” Hinoka mumbles.

“Well how about I drop these two home and then we can get some coffee?” Camilla asks(more like insists), chuckling slightly at Hinoka’s flustered appearance.

“U-Um sure! I mean, I’d love to!” Hinoka stutters. Takumi snorts, then tries to cover it up by coughing. Hinoka glares at him.   
“I simply can’t wait, darling,” Camilla says, before leaving with her siblings.

  
  


**_takumeme >:( logged on_ **

**_himeoka_ ** _ -so, that leo boy? _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -what r you talking abt _

**_himeoka_ ** _ -if it helps, he totally likes you back _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -i dnt like him and he doesnt like me _

**_himeoka_ ** _ -i already talked to sakura _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -ffs _

**_himeoka_ ** _ -just tell him how you feel _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -literally not an option _

**_himeoka_ ** _ -sure it is _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -why dont u try that out w camilla? _

**_himeoka_ ** _ \- thats different. _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -how? _

**_himeoka logged out._ **

  
  


The weeks go by quickly, even with some(a lot) of annoyance from the Meddling Sisters.

This week alone, Takumi’s gotten some chocolates “from Leo”, he's gotten two love letters, gone on another accidental date(shoutout to Hinoka for making actual, real dinner reservations for them) and to top it all off Takumi keeps finding roses shoved through the grates in his locker which meant relentless teasing from Hinata and Oboro. He’s sure Leo gets the same stuff.

 

Its at the eighth or ninth accidental date that Leo snaps.   
“Why do you agree to all this stuff when you know it’ll justend up with another ‘date’?” he asks as he finishes his coffee ice cream. There's a long pause before Takumi speaks.   
“I could ask you the same.” (Does Leo hate these ‘dates’ that much?)

Leo looks at him, I mean, really looks at Takumi, at the hurt look on his face, at the sadness in his eyes, he remembers the hushed tone Takumi just spoke in.   
“I’m sorry,” Leo says. Takumi nods.   
“Good.”

  
  


The next accidental date they find themselves at a small bakery where Takumi orders sweet chilli churros for the two of them.   
“How do we stop them?” he asks as he thinks back to how hinoka stole his phone and asked Leo out to this. Predictably, Leo agreed, he always did. 

“I think I know how,” Leo says after a while. Takumi urges him to go on.

“So they want us to go out, and they wont stop until we do. So we pretend to go out, and have a really messy breakup?” Leo wonders aloud.

“Are you serious-”   
“Do you really want to have your locker clogged up with roses for the rest of your life?”

And that's how Takumi and Leo ended up going back to Takumi’s house hand-in-hand.

 

Elise squeals when she sees the two watching shitty tv and holding hands-actually holding hands, and she calls Sakura over, who smiles for her brother. Leo eyes them.   
“Whats wrong with you two?” he asks, tightening his grip on Takumi’s hand, who blushes more somehow.

“Are you two dating?” Sakura asks. Takumi nods, still staring holes into the tv screen. Leo’s hand is kind of cold, but it's comforting anyway. Their sisters decide to ‘give them their privacy’ and Leo pulls his hand away. Takumi tries not to be upset about it.

  
  


They see each other a lot now, and even Niles, Owain, Hinata and Oboro(who actually seemed weirdly upset) found out. Takumi more than happily explained their plan to them, but they just exchange knowing looks.

  
  


They go on ‘dates’ and they go on ‘double dates’ and they find themselves holding hands a lot. Once, Leo kisses him on the cheek. Takumi feels light headed at that, and tries grins happily(and hears his siblings saying ‘awww’). He doesn’t really think about the break up. Takumi can never seem to forget that it's all a show, especially when Leo goes back to his usual snarky self when they're alone, or when Leo jolts his hand away, or when Leo pulls away from hugs or moves away from cuddling.

He feels empty.

  
  


Its when they're walking back to Leo’s after a fake date at the movies that Takumi snaps. He stops walking.

“What’s wrong?” Leo asks, concerned. Takumi sniffels a bit, his eyes threatening to water up at any moment.   
“Are you okay?”

Takumi doesn't answer. He hides his face behind his hands. It all comes spilling out.   
“Leo, i can't do this anymore,” he says shakily.   
“Do what?” Leo asks, concerned.   
“Pretend to date you.”

“Oh,” leo breathes.   
“Did I do something wrong?”   
Maybe Takumi feels uncomfortable? Takumi has been pushing him away recently.

“Leo, I can't do t-this...not when it's fake, i can't pretend any more, it hurts too much,” Takumi says.   
“What do you mean?” Leo asks.

“I mean it hurts too much that we can just do that fake shit in front of everyone but the minute they look away you're not mine anymore. It's p-painful, honestly!” Takumi exclaims, looking Leo in the eye.

“Especially when you like someone else!” 

Leo’s confused, when did he ever say who he liked?   
“What are you talking about, Takumi? Who?” he asks.

“You t-told me you liked someone,” Takumi mumbles.   
“And I can’t pretend to date you, knowing that it's not me,” Takumi whispers, and storms off. Leo follows.

“Please, Takumi, explain!”

Takumi growls and turns to face him, looking very angry.   
“Leo, you're so stupid sometimes! I fucking like you!” he exclaims.

Oh.  _ oh. _

“Takumi, why can't you consider that i like you too?” he asks, hurt.

“You always pull away…” Takumi mutters.

“I thought you were uncomfortable…”Leo trails off.

There's a long silence where they just stand there in the middle of the dark street, facing each other, until Takumi finally speaks again.   
“If we go into that house holding hands, it had better be for real. I don't want this to be fake.”

Leo smiles a bit, and gets closer, closer, he's strokes Takumi’s cheek and leans in. Takumi tastes like cinammon coffee and all that’s right with the world.

“There. Its not fake,” he says, pulling away. He reaches down and takes Takumi’s hand in his own. Takumi smiles at him.   
“Let's go,” he says, walking to the house.

Elise smiles knowingly as she sees Takumi blushing and Leo grinning wider than he ever has. She saw what happened through her bedroom window, and can’t help but feel so proud for Leo.

 

**_takumeme >:( logged on._ **

**_princeLeo_ ** _ -Takumiiii _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -whatttttttttt _ _   
_ **_princeLeo_ ** _ -Do you want to go on a date? _

**_takumeme >:(_ ** _ -finally u ask _

**_princeLeo_ ** _ -I’ll be over at 7, you’d  better be ready _

  
  


Leo shows up at his door at 7 on the dot. They get the bus to the ice rink, but as they leave, fingers intertwined, Takumi can’t help but laugh.   
“What is it?” Leo asks.   
“This is my first date.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaand its over!!  
> that was rly fun to write, tysm you guys for all your love and support omg  
> im gonna try out a marxlow story soon?? but a one shot bc im worn out now  
> (pssst,, i might write an epilogue)

**Author's Note:**

> abt the alarm: blame takumi  
> (will update soon!!)


End file.
